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Personal Safety

Personal Health and Safety guide

When visiting any major city, visitors should take certain health and safety precautions and Cape Town is no different. To help make your visit to The Twelve Apostles and Cape Town as enjoyable as possible, here are some basic tips:

Health Tips

The tap (faucet) water in Cape Town is both palatable and safe to drink straight from the tap. Cape Town’s food quality is excellent and the city boasts some of the top restaurants in the world. Should you require medical attention, facilities in Cape Town are world-class, with an excellent network of both state and private hospitals. Ask our Concierge desk if you require medical services. With the Cape’s warm sunny climate it is precautionary to wear sunscreen and a hat whenever you are out of doors during the day, particularly between 10am and 4pm during the summer months.

Cape Town is not a malaria area and adults do not require any inoculations unless you're travelling from a yellow-fever endemic area (the yellow fever belt of Africa or South America), in which case you will need certification to prove your inoculation status when you arrive in the country. Hepatitis B inoculations are recommended for children up to the age of 12 who have not completed the series of injections as infants.

No cases of the Ebola virus have been reported in South Africa. The South African government is confident of the systems and protocols that are in place to address any incidence of the virus.

Visitor Safety Tips

Avoid carrying large sums of money, carrying cameras or video cameras in plain sight and leaving your belongings unattended. Ask advice of the hotel staff or tourism centre officials on where to go after dark.

Try not to walk alone, and take special precautions at lonely lookout points, especially at dusk or after dark and do not allow strangers to assist you in any way at ATMs. At night, park in secure, well-lit areas.

Cape Town Tourism in partnership with Protection and Emergency Services run a Visitor Support Programme to assist you, should you be involved in an incident. Contact Cape Town Tourism for more information.

Safety in Table Mountain National Park

Cape Town Tourism recommends the use of a qualified mountain guide should you wish to explore Table Mountain National Park on foot. Alternatively, make sure you take a Table Mountain map, comfortable walking shoes, a few friends and a charged cell phone (mobile). If you are walking on the paths behind The Twelve Apostles Hotel, the concierge can provide you with a map of the trails or you can book a staff member from the Sports Buddy programme to accompany you. Make sure you are prepared for weather that can change rapidly; bring sunblock and something warm to wear and head back before dark, sticking to demarcated pathways.

Save the following emergency number on your cell phone before you begin your hike: +27 (0)861 106 417.